âEvery synthesis becomes a new thesis, which becomes the target of a new antithesis.â âThis antithesis found its synthesis in Stoicism, the philosophy of both master and slaveâ¦ and so on.â âIt is also to be noted that the dialectical process is not simply from thesis and antithesis to final synthesis; it is an eternal, open-ended spiral of development.â
By the time of the American Revolution, settlers were exporting 66 million pounds of rice a year. Indigo became South Carolinaâs second most important early crop. Indigo production merged nicely with rice production on many plantations. But when that market dried up, planters shifted to cotton.
Although planters were only a small part of the Southernpopulation, the plantation economy and slavery shaped life in the SouthernColonies: Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. The Plantation Economy The Southâs soil and almost year-round growing season were ideal forplantation crops like rice and tobacco. These valuable plants requiredmuch labor to produce, but with enough workers they could be grownas cash crops.